August 19, 2023: DH2 in the pine by the visitors center at the hatchery.
Happy Fri-yay, everyone! Our eagle-eyed eagle watchers haven’t seen or heard DH2 since the morning of August 19th. It looks like our little eaglet has flown the coop! Will it come back to say goodbye before it leaves for good? Here’s what we’ve learned from the Decorah eagles we’ve tracked so far.
- Four eagles dispersed in August. The average August dispersal date was August 19, which is also the last day we saw DH2! D35, D1, and D27 left without much warning, but D24 undertook several overnight camping trips before leaving for good on August 31.
- Three eagles dispersed in September. The average September dispersal date was September 10. Although D25, D36, and D14 all took long overnight ranging flights centered around the hatchery area, D14 was not seen within .2 miles of the hatchery after August 2nd. If we hadn’t been tracking him, we might have assumed an August departure date.
- One eagle dispersed in October. Four fledged prematurely and experienced a great deal of trauma after fledging, which might have resulted in her later independence and departure date.
- Longer flights tended to begin the last week of July or the first week of August, depending on age. Based on geographic data, most of the eaglets were largely independent from their parents by the middle of August. Although we sometimes glimpsed the older fledglings between overnight camping trips, they didn’t appear to be relying on their parents for food.
We don’t have satellite tracking data, but six days is a very long time not to see DH2, especially given that we saw and heard the eaglet almost every day post-fledge. Our boots crew is still watching, but it seems likely DH2 has set off on its big adventure, whatever that looks like! Good luck, DH2! Maybe we’ll see you this fall at the Flyway U, and of course we’ll let everyone know if you drop in before eagle college starts. Good luck in the wild blue yonder!
Dispersal dates and behaviors
Here’s a brief look at the dispersal behaviors and dates of the eight Decorah eagles we tracked post-fledge. To read Brett and Ryan’s paper, follow this link: https://www.raptorresource.org/raptorresource/pdf/Satellite-Tracking-Decorah-article-text-2019-04-01-with-abstract.pdf.
- August 12, 2020: D35 disperses. D35 surprised us when she left on August 12th with very little warning! The earliest of our eaglets to leave ranged two miles north on August 1st – her first trip of over one mile from nest N2B – but spent most of her time within .2 miles of N2B prior to her dispersal.
- August 14, 2011: D1/E2 disperses. We were shocked when D1 dispersed on August 14, 2011! Prior to her dispersal, she had never ranged more than .982 miles from nest N1. We last saw her chatting with Mom on August 14th, shortly before she left for good: https://youtu.be/hEo5hZl73Z0?si=oG2D4tGeEmA2BeN8.
- August 19, 2017: D27 disperses. We did not start tracking D27 until August 9th, when she ranged 4.8 miles on an overnight trip northeast of N2B – her first trip of over one mile from the nest that we know, although we started tracking her later than the other eagles we studied. At that point, she was spending almost no time in the vicinity of the nest. We tracked her within .2 miles of N2B just three times between August 9th and her dispersal.
- August 31, 2016: D24 disperses. D24 ranged 1.3 miles east on July 30th – his first trip of over one mile from nest N2B – before returning later that day. Although D24 took overnight trips on July 31, August 4, and August 21, he always returned to the vicinity of the hatchery before his dispersal on August 31st. Robin Brumm took this video of D25, D24, and Mom on August 18th: https://youtu.be/1fnTNw4U1MM?si=Tlwbx1w4IOau8P0y.
- September 1, 2016: D25 disperses. D25 ranged 2.1 miles west on July 30th – his first trip of over one mile from nest N2B – before returning later that day. On August 1st, he left for an extended 260 mile walkabout before returning on August 6th. Between August 6th and August 10th, he spent most of his time within .2 miles of N2B, although he slowly began to expand his travels after that. Robin Brumm took this video of D25, D24, and Mom on August 18th: https://youtu.be/1fnTNw4U1MM?si=Tlwbx1w4IOau8P0y.
- September 5, 2020: D36 disperses. D36 ranged 2.3 miles northeast on August 4th – his first trip of over one mile from nest N2B – before returning later that day. Between August 5th and August 17th, he spent most of his time within .2 miles of the nest, although the length and frequency of his away periods began increasing on August 10th. Between August 18th and August 28th, he spent very little time near N2B. He returned for the last week of August and was recorded within .2 miles of the hatchery 14 times between August 28th and his dispersal.
- September 23, 2012: D14 disperses. D14 ranged 2.1 miles northeast on July 26 – his first trip of over one mile from nest N1 – before returning later that day. Although D14 dispersed later than D1, D24, D25, or D35, we did not see him within .2 miles of the nest after August 2nd.
- October 18, 2014: Four disperses. Although Four fledged prematurely, she was the latest of our eaglets to leave. After being rescued from a cornfield on June 29th, she ended up at the Decorah Yard Waste site roughly 1.3 miles from her nest. She was non-fatally electrocuted on July 20th, captured by Bob and Brett for assessment, and released back near N2 on July 25. She spent all of August and the first part of September within a mile of the nest – no wandering for her! – and was tracked in the immediate vicinity of the nest 25 times before she began widening her travels on September 11.
The Raptor Resource Project